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New Glimpse of Donors to a Rove-Linked Group

By Michael Luo September 20, 2010 7:51 pmSeptember 20, 2010 7:51 pm

Sue Ogrocki/Associated PressKarl Rove in May.

American Crossroads, one-half of the dynamic duo of political advocacy organizations tied to Karl Rove that has been dominating spending by outside interest groups on Senate races so far, showed just a little more leg today in a campaign finance filing with the Federal Election Commission.

In the end, however, it was still just a tease.

That is because the group’s leaders said over the weekend that it had raised a total of $32 million, as of last Sunday, through American Crossroads, as well as its sister organization, Crossroads GPS, a 501(c)(4) non-profit that does not have to reveal its donors. Steven Law, the president and chief executive officer of both groups, previously said they are well on their way to raising $50 million for the midterm elections.

The groups have only disclosed, however, donations amounting to $9.3 million to American Crossroads through the Internal Revenue Service and now the F.E.C.

Nevertheless, the filings by American Crossroads today offer a glimpse at the kinds of donors Mr. Rove and Ed Gillespie, a former Republican Party chairman, who have been spearheading fund-raising for the groups, have been hitting up for cash.

The latest filings include $400,000 from American Financial Group, which was founded by Carl H. Lindner Jr., a major donor to conservative causes; $1 million from Trevor Rees-Jones, a Texas oil magnate, who gave another $1 million to the group earlier in the year; and $1 million from Robert B. Rowling, chief executive officer of TRT Holdings, whose company also previously donated $1 million.

Since August, Crossroads GPS has been the top spender by far on Senate races on television, according to data from Campaign Media Analysis Group, which tracks political spending, perhaps an indicator of where the bulk of the donations have been going. American Crossroads’ spending has been much more limited so far.

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